By Matt Brown
Digital Manager
April 2018
10 digital essentials in 2018
At the start of 2018, there were countless articles touting the ‘must–do’s’ for 2018. Trends, predictions and necessities for any strategy in any sector. The digital marketing world is no exception.
What I find more interesting, is what has been an important trend in the past and continues to remain poignant. We’re ¼ through 2018, here are my views on what is important in the world of digital.
1. Mobile Dominance. For most websites, mobile now accounts for over 50% of traffic. Facebook will be almost entirely mobile, with 80% of ads being served to mobile devices already. The dominance of mobile will only continue to grow. Complex tasks such as mortgage applications that were historically left to desktop devices will continue to move to mobile, especially with the developments of virtual assistance and smart forms. Mobile first is a phrase that’s been around for a while, but it’s here to stay.
2. Continued Evolution of PR. PR has changed over the last 5 years. The interdependence between PR and SEO is something that can no longer be ignored. Brands who have integrated their PR and SEO into interconnected campaigns have benefited significantly from increased online presence through search rankings as well as traditional PR visibility. Digital is no longer an addition to PR; it’s an interconnected component of an overarching strategy.
3. Voice. Voice search and voice technology is currently in its infancy with early adopters like the Amazon Echo and Google Home. According to Location World, 40% of adults now use voice search once per day. More importantly, ComScore sates that by 2020 over 50 per cent of all searches will be voice searches.
4. Augmented Reality. The disconnection between a bricks and mortar and online customer journey is challenging. Brands with well-established high street presence often struggle developing complementing online experiences. Augmented reality enables traditional bricks and mortar stores to offer a more immersive digital experience within an online capacity. A great example of this is IKEA Place, an app that lets you browse furniture items and see how they would look in your desired location. You can reposition the product, move closer or further away and even view from different angles.
5. Chatbots. If you’ve ever tried the IKEA Place app, you’ll notice it’s powered by an automated Chatbot. Chatbots are a fantastic way to navigate users through an automated experience, delivering information in real time whilst giving the customer an intuitive and personal experience. At a simple level Chatbots will be an automated way to help users navigate websites and applications or assist with ordering and payments. However, future development in conjunction with AI will lead to fully automated customer experiences in complex application processes. There is definitely an immediate use for Chatbots in 2018 with more sophistication and automation around the corner.
6. Marketing Automation. For a while now marketers have been automating tasks such as social media, email, SMS and website actions. Marketing automation is a great way to make a customer experience more efficient with technology making tasks easier. But it’s not just a cost saving exercise; automation can allow brands to enhance their customer experience so each customer receives a tailored customer journey where the brand and customer interact through whatever communication channels are right for the customer.
7. Programmatic. Ad-buying is heading towards a completely automated process across all channels, not just online. Technology providers and agencies are likely to offer a full omnichannel advertising service that allows a brand to interact with customers in a channel neutral manner. Customers do not differentiate between channels or device, so why should a brands marketing strategy consider channels in silo? The best way to market a product or service is to tell a story over multiple channels. Programmatic can assist with the real time bidding and efficiency of this process.
8. Content Marketing. Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focussed on creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience – and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action. Content marketing is often referred to as king; it’s a strategic approach brands use to distribute relevant, consistent and valuable information. Content marketing will continue in 2018 as a crucial strategic element of attracting and engaging with a target audience. Quality and relevance of content remains important as does the varied formats; visual content via YouTube, Facebook and Instagram is still on the rise.
9. Personalisation. Personalised content is becoming more and more of a customer expectation. More importantly, customers who have a personalised online experience are more likely to convert to a purchase or decision. According to Accenture, 75% of customers are more likely to make a purchase from a retailer if they are recognised by name and relevant opinions based on prior purchases. Personalisation helps create a unique customer experience based on behaviour, interests, purchase patterns or specific preferences. Resulting in a more unique customer experience and therefore increasing key metrics such as click through rate and conversion rate. Login areas, apps and landing pages are two main areas where personalisation has been used well in the past but this is likely to expand further in 2018.
10. Micro-Moments. There are now more Google searches performed on a mobile device than on desktop. Customers are increasingly connected to the internet through their smartphones and using their devices for more activities. Customers are using their mobile devices to find on the spot answers to their given queries and this trend is likely to continue further in 2018. The use of a mobile for search isn’t necessarily replacing desktop usage; mainly because additional mobile searches are now being made in a way that wasn’t previously possible. These micro-moments are for more immediate requirements for information. Customers can turn to their mobile for information on any subject in pretty much any location. As a customer you can search another brand's store whilst shopping in their direct competitor’s store. Micro-moments will continue to rise in line with the use of mobile so it’s important that brands identify these moments so they show up for the given queries.
Where to focus your effort, energy & budget
Digital capabilities will continue to develop and consumers will adopt new technologies at a fast rate.
If you’re doing all of these, great, you’re ahead of the curve. The big question is, are you implementing these trends well? Is your investment in technology meeting the needs of your customer? Are you delivering measureable & positive commercial results? If you’re looking for a place to start, automation and personalisation allows your brand to give your customers a more tailored and cost efficient experience whilst remaining competitive. With all digital developments, there will be winners and losers along the way but personalised experiences and mobile will remain an expectation from customers.
If you have limited time and or budget then the key digital trends to focus on are optimising experiences for mobile, automating routine processes and personalising experiences towards the customer.
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